U-Verse dropping Xbox 360 receiver support after December 31st

AT&T U-Verse on an Xbox 360

We hope you weren't bent on using the Xbox 360 as a U-Verse TV receiver. AT&T is now telling customers that it will drop IPTV support for Microsoft's older console after December 31st, leaving viewers with little choice but to use a conventional set-top box. Subscribers will get a $99 credit in return for their troubles, the provider says. We've reached out to AT&T for more details regarding the move, but there are no signs of an official Xbox One substitute on the horizon.

[Thanks, Chuck]

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Source: AT&T

Google widens Fiber rollout in Kansas City, shows how signups will work in Austin

Google Fiber devices

Did you move to the Kansas City area too late to register for Google Fiber? Don't fret -- Google has both reopened sign-ups in the region's 180 current fiber neighborhoods and detailed an upcoming expansion. Those in existing Fiber areas can sign up for service by December 22nd, with installations due by the spring. Meanwhile, those in outlying locations such as Gladstone, Grandview, Kansas City North, South Kansas City and Raytown will get a chance to sign up in March.

The search giant has also provided a brief explanation of how Austin residents will sign up for Fiber service when it's available in their town. As in Kansas City, Austinites will be organized into fiberhoods that have to meet registration goals within a few weeks to qualify for a deployment. There's still no word on just when the process will begin, although the mid-2014 service target doesn't leave much time for Google to get the ball rolling.

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Source: Google Fiber Blog (1), (2)

Intel to Sell Verizon its Web TV Project


Intel is about to scrap its OnCue IPTV project. And the remainder left over after the partial death wish will get sold to Verizon. The wait for the Web TV seemed to last forever. Finally, the whole...

Google Fiber sign-ups begin in Provo, but only for a lucky few

Google Fiber in Provo

Provo citizens who've been craving Google Fiber can finally sign up for service -- some of them, anyway. Google is now accepting early registrations from Veracity Networks' residential customers, whose internet access is already linked to the former iProvo network that Fiber will use. Qualifying locals who register by October 31st will get Google's internet and IPTV services before anyone else, with pricing unchanged from what Google offers in Kansas City. Be prepared to wait if you're not one of the fortunate few, though, as Google won't start general sign-ups until January.

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Via: Google Fiber Blog

Source: Google Fiber

MediaPortal 1.5 released with CableCARD and Windows 8.1 support

MediaPortal 1.5

Give credit to the MediaPortal team for making swift progress: just a few weeks after revealing a pre-release build of MediaPortal 1.5, the group has released its finished software for download. As promised, the home theater PC client now supports CableCARD tuning for most channels outside of pay TV. The update also brings support for Windows 8.1, a directly integrated PowerScheduler++ feature and improved IPTV streaming. The only drawback is the end to Windows XP support, but we suspect that backward compatibility isn't as much of an issue these days.

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Source: MediaPortal

Sweden’s Com Hem launches TiVo soon, will offer Netflix in December

Sweden's Com Hem launches TiVo soon, will offer Netflix in December

It appears the tests of an IPTV-ready TiVo on Sweden's Com Hem service went well, as the provider is officially launching service September 30th. It's also built a few new service packages around the three tuner, 1TB HDD-equipped DVR, with the TiVo Max option offering about 80 channels and TiVo Combo Max bundling internet and phone service. Another part of some of the TiVo packages is a TiVoToGo offering that let's users stream several live TV channels and video on-demand to other devices, along with DVR scheduling and remote control features from the iOS app. The other juicy detail is that, like Virgin Media in the UK and Google Fiber in the US, Com Hem will allow the Netflix app on its set-top boxes. The Netflix feature is expected to launch on its TiVos in December, and we figure there will be plenty of customers ready, with a claimed 45,000 already preregistered for the new boxes since May 15th.

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Source: Com Hem

C Spire prepping gigabit ‘Fiber to the Home’ service, asks where to put it

C Spire prepping gigabit 'Fiber to the Home' service, asks where to put it

Gigabit internet access is all the rage these days, and C Spire is entirely willing to give in to peer pressure. It just announced an upcoming C Spire Fiber to the Home service that will supply 1Gbps internet access and IPTV to Mississippi residents sometime in 2014. Exactly where it arrives will depend on feedback, however. Much like Google, C Spire wants both municipal governments and residents to plead their case; the more vocal regions will get service first. Only local leaders can solicit C Spire at this stage, but everyone else will get their chance starting on September 30th.

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Source: C Spire

MediaPortal 1.5 enters pre-release; adds CableCARD, Windows 8.1 support

DNP MediaPortal 15 enters prerelease adds CableCARD, Windows 81 support

We're finally half way to MediaPortal 2.0, and while version 1.5's updates are more nuts and bolts than 1.3's flashy visual overhaul, they're important nonetheless. Now let's dig in, shall we? First up, PowerScheduler++ has been integrated directly to the app, which should make it easier set up and schedule system reboots -- it adds options for remote clients, too. Next, IPTV support got a makeover and the dev team says its product should meet your needs both "now and well into the future." CableCARD users still have to deal with DRM restrictions on pay-TV channels, but most everything else -- ESPN, TNT and USA, for example -- should function without the cumbersome workarounds of days passed. None of the latest additions break version 1.4's skins or plugins, and it's even supposed to be compatible with the Windows 8.1 preview. The only bad news is if you're still rocking Windows XP, since MediaPortal is finally killing support for the OS -- but that can't affect too many people, can it?

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Source: MediaPortal (1)

ESPN exec is willing to talk to Google, Sony, Intel about IPTV — if they’ll take bundles

For those who find sports is the string keeping them from cutting loose of traditional pay-TV services, ESPN president John Skipper's comments today are a bit of good news / bad news. Speaking to Bloomberg, he revealed the network has had talks to offer its content on internet TV services like the ones we've heard Google, Sony and Intel (among others *cough Apple*) are interested in offering. What he and a network spokesman made clear however, is that any agreement would involve those services offering a package of channels, just like current cable, satellite and telco providers. That would make it harder for any online service to differentiate itself on content or pricing, but we'll have to wait for one to actually launch to find out for sure.

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Source: Bloomberg

Com Hem launches TiVo IPTV test, asks participants to blog their experience

Com Hem launches TiVo IPTV test, asks participants to blog their experience

Been wondering what it would be like to watch the tube through an IPTV box? Brush up on your Swedish: Com Hem is having its TiVo IPTV testers blog about it. The Stockholm-based TV provider dished out twenty (familiar looking) Samsung built receivers to select customers last week, asking them to document their experience on a company's website. The box promises participants the usual suite of TiVo features, including support for TiVoToGo and simultaneous DVR recording of up to three HD channels. The handful of participants who were at the launch event seem pretty jazzed, though updates quickly came to a halt as they settled in for some weekend TV time. Care to read up? Prime a Google Translate tab and hit the attached source link.

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Source: Com Hem